Why Hearing Loss is Common in Everyone: Understanding the Causes and Prevention

No matter someone’s age, gender or living situation, millions of people around the world experience hearing loss. Hearing loss is usually thought to hit older people hardest, but it actually happens to people of all ages fairly frequently. According to the CDC, about a quarter of Americans—that is, 1 in 8—are living with hearing loss in both ears.

Just why does hearing loss take place often and how can we work to avoid it? To find out how often hearing loss occurs, we should know the causes, the risk factors and possible ways to involve beforehand hearing loss.

1. Presbycusis is the name doctors use for age-related hearing loss.

A lot of the time, age-related hearing loss or presbycusis, is the main cause of hearing problems. With aging, our cells that help us hear sound, found in the inner ear, start to wear out. As they get older, they are no longer able to handle sound as well, eventually causing hearing problems. The condition is most often found in people aged 65 and over.

Most people with presbycusis lose their ability to hear high-frequency sounds, so they may miss birds chirping, a doorbell or high-pitched voices. The hearing loss that results from cochlear damage usually responds to hearing aids but cannot be recovered.

2. Deafness Caused by Loud Noise

Being around loud noises can also cause a lot of hearing problems. Placing headphones next to your ear for hours or working at noisy construction sites often results in hair cells in the ear being damaged. This kind of harm does not usually go away.

After a while, just a short time listening to sounds at 85 decibels, the level of heavy traffic, can be harmful to your hearing. Any sound that is over 120 decibels, as heard at concerts or when using firearms, can rapidly harm an ear. To lower your risk of this type of hearing loss, try to keep your ears safe using protection and try to avoid very loud noises

3. Genetics and My Family’s Past

A person’s genes can greatly influence hearing loss as well. Many people have a genetic problem that raises their risk of hearing loss. Such hearing loss may appear even if you haven’t been exposed to loud noises or you are still young. Some people experience hearing loss since birth, while it can also develop later thanks to genes carried down from parents.

You may be at higher risk of losing your hearing if a family member has had that problem. When used early, genetic testing and intervention may keep the disease from getting worse

4. Health Problems and Their Treatments

Hearing loss can be caused by some medical conditions and by the medicines people take. A common cause of hearing problems can be diabetes, high blood pressure or problems with the heart, all of which can disrupt the blood flow to the ear. There are medicines called chemotherapy drugs and antibiotics that sometimes harm the inner ear which can result in hearing loss.

If you have any existing medical issues, be sure to keep an eye on your health and visit your doctor if you think it affects your hearing. Taking medication as prescribed or looking after health can sometimes stop hearing loss from happening.

5. Includes cases of infection and ear injuries.

Problems such as otitis media (ear infection) or meningitis are able to cause a hearing loss. The ear can be harmed by the inflammation and buildup of fluid seen with these disorders. Just like other serious head or ear injuries, a ruptured ear drum or damage to the auditory nerve can result in hearing loss.

Being careful about ear infections and head injuries can greatly reduce your risk of hearing loss.

6. Hearing Loss That Affects Children

Although people aging can suffer from hearing loss, children are also sometimes affected. Problems with a baby’s birth or pregnancy such as premature delivery, can occasionally lead to hearing loss in infants. Giving your child noise-filled extras like concerts or noisy toys may put their hearing at risk.

Getting hearing loss recognized and dealing with it early is important for children’s proper development of speech and language.

We provide advice on how to prevent hearing loss.

Just because you are at risk of hearing loss does not mean you can’t lower your chance of developing it.

Put on ear protection every time you’re in a very loud space. Don’t expose your hearing to loud ruckus and when you do use headphones, do not listen too loudly.

Have your hearing tested on a regular basis: Catching hearing loss early helps you manage it. Seeing a hearing specialist now and then can catch any hearing problems that might affect you.

A healthy diet and routine tests for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar will help to protect your hearing.

See a doctor as soon as you notice you may have an ear problem or you have trouble hearing.

Good ear health is supported by eating healthy foods, exercising often and not smoking.

Conclusion

Few people realize just how common hearing loss is among all members of the population, from young to old. Regardless of your cause—aging, noise, genes or health—you can take steps to protect or control your hearing loss. Therefore, using hearing protection, being active with health care and getting medical treatment as soon as you notice a problem will give you a much greater chance to prevent hearing damage.

Should you experience any hearing problems, it’s important to get help from an audiologist, who will offer you unique treatment plans such as hearing aids.